


Crowns and Ponytails

by Ithoughtyoulikedmereckless



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bughead as parents, Bughead kiddos, F/M, Fake Dating, Friends to Lovers, Future AU, Future Family, battling monsters under the bed, coffee shop AU, dad jughead, dreaded family parties, feel good, fluffy fluff, mom betty, roomate au, stand in boyfriend Jughead, unconventional ways of saying 'I love you'
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 15:38:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithoughtyoulikedmereckless/pseuds/Ithoughtyoulikedmereckless
Summary: Little snippets of ideas that I have for our favorite couple. There will be future aus, fake dating aus, and whatever else my brain comes up with.(Most of these have been posted on tumblr already!)
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	1. ohmygod, they were roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty needs a fake-boyfriend to bring home for the weekend, Archie cancels on her last minute. Who else could she bring with her?

“Why is my life such a constant struggle? Can’t anything go my way? Even just once?” Betty finds herself sprawled along her couch, staring at the offending text Archie just sent her. 

A low chuckle comes from her roommate in the kitchen. “What’s going on now, Betts?” Jughead finishes drying the bowl in his hands before putting it away. He lumbers into the living room, lifting Betty’s feet only to plop them into his lap as he sits down. 

Betty lifts her head and then lets it fall back onto the arm of the couch, letting out a long huff. “Archie bailed on me for this weekend, now I have to come up with another fake boyfriend to meet the parents. Some childhood best friend he is.”

Jughead raises and eyebrow at Betty. “There's no way that Archie didn’t have a good reason for bailing on you. The guy might be a little dim sometimes, but there is nothing he wouldn’t do for you.”

Betty sits up, keeping her legs in Jughead’s lap. “Yeah, I know, I’m just being dramatic. Veronica needs him to go home with her this weekend instead of next weekend and he doesn’t want to make a bad impression with her parents. So basically, it just comes down to him needing to fulfill his ‘real boyfriend’ duties instead of his ‘stand-in boyfriend’ duties.” Her anxiety levels are rising as she explains the situation to Jughead, her hands gesturing around wildly. “So now I have exactly twelve hours to find a random guy to be my ‘Alice Cooper approved boyfriend’ for the weekend. I can’t show up without one because for the past two months I’ve been talking about how amazing my new boyfriend is. I can’t let her find out I’ve been lying to keep her from sending an entourage of boys she deems worthy, my way. Can you _ imagine _ how bad that would be, Juggie? _Can you?_”

Jughead looks at her with an amused smirk. “You gonna breathe, blondie? That was a lot of talking without a lot of breaths.”

Betty smacks his chest, and furrows her brow at him. “Are you going to be helpful or should I just go die alone in my room?”

Jughead grabs her face and smooshes her cheeks together, shaking her face slightly. “You're so dramatic. Alice Cooper is the only one who makes this side of you come out and, to be honest, it’s kind of scary.” Betty sticks her tongue out at him, making him laugh at how ridiculous she looks with her face squished. “Let me text my friends, okay? I’m sure one of them would love to be your fake boyfriend. Pretty much all of them are half in love with you anyway.” Jughead lets go of her face and drops his hands to squeeze her ankle in reassurance. 

“That’s incredibly wonderful of you, Juggie, but…I don’t really want to lead any of them on, y’know? If I let one of them fake date me for the weekend, I don’t want them to think there's a chance of something...more once it’s over.” Betty starts wringing her hands.

“If one of them did want something more, would that be so terrible? Most of them are nice and if they ever treated you badly, I’d be able to keep them in line.” 

Betty’s face warms and she can’t meet Jughead’s eyes. “I kind of like this other guy, I wouldn’t want to play around with anyone’s feelings.” Jughead turns his body towards Betty and opens his mouth but Betty continues talking before he can ask her anything. “You aren’t doing anything this weekend, are you? Can you come with me? Please?”

Jughead rubs the back of his neck slowly. “I don’t know Betts, your mom is pretty terrifying. She’d probably have my head if she thought we were dating _ and _ living together. Think of the scandal, Ms. Cooper!”

Betty’s eyes widen with enthusiasm and grabs Jughead’s shoulders. “Oh my gosh! This is perfect, if you were my boyfriend that explains why I wouldn't tell her your name and brought you home to meet her.”

“Betts…”

Betty shifts to her knees, shaking Jughead more as if she thinks that will get him to agree faster. “Come on Jug! All you have to do is kiss me a couple times, hold my hand and _ maybe _ share a room with me, but probably not because my mom is...well, she’s _ Alice Cooper _.”

Jughead puts his hands on top of Betty’s on his shoulders. “I don’t know…”

“Come on Jug, please? We already don’t have that many boundaries and you know everything about me _ and _you’re my bestest friend next to Archie. It’s just one date to meet the family...you wouldn’t say no to free food, would you?”

“I guess you’re right,” Jughead says slowly.

Betty leans back on her ankles with a giant smile stretching across her face. “You know I’m always right.”

And she _ is _ right. What could possibly go wrong with two roommates who are unknowingly in love with one another, pretending to be in a very committed relationship for an entire weekend. Really, what could go wrong?


	2. smiles work better than caffeine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty needs Jughead to help her to dispel her coworkers affections. Kisses might ensue...

Jughead’s been in line for what feels like an eternity, he knows better than to come into this Starbucks at three in the afternoon. All the high school girls come in after school ends to order their unnecessarily long orders of pink and purple drinks, all with daddy’s money. Of course, he could go to the Starbucks that’s across town and not next to the high school, but then he wouldn’t see his favorite barista. She has cute little name tag, graced with bubbly pink letters spelling out Betty, a heart punctuating the end. And really, the coffee’s definitely not worth the price, but her smile sure is.

It’s been four weeks of him coming into this Starbucks at the very least twice a week, he’s still trying to get up the courage to ask her out. Everytime he comes in, another excuse as to why he shouldn’t do it pops into his head. What if he makes her feel like she has to say yes just because she’s working and he’s a customer? What if he gets so nervous he drops his coffee all over the floor and then she has to clean up after him? What if he sweats and then passes out from nerves? What if she’s dating someone? What if she rejects him and all these high school girls see him cry?

What if he’s just chicken?

_ Hey! Ding, ding, ding! That’s it!! _

There are three high schoolers in front of him now and he’s going over what he’s going to say to her in his head….Or trying to, his mind, always full of at least seven thoughts at once is conveniently empty at the moment. 

Two girls now stand between him and the blonde, pony-tailed barista of his dreams. 

Man, if he doesn’t ask her out soon though, these coffee prices are really going to burn a hole through his wallet. With only one girl in front of him now, he sees one of Betty’s huskier male coworkers come up beside her and sling his arm around her shoulders. His heart sinks to his stomach. _ I could leave now, there’s still someone in front of me. It’s not too suspicious. _

“Next.”

_ Drat. _

He’s next in line and has a perfect view of the interaction between Betty and her coworker. His eyebrows furrow at Betty’s apparent discomfort. She pushes the guy’s (his name tag reveals his name to be Reggie) arm off her shoulders and harshly whispers something to him. Reggie clearly doesn’t take the hint and continues to yammer on about lord knows what. 

It’s finally Jughead’s turn and Betty seems to physically relax upon seeing him approach the counter. He sends her a half smile trying his hardest not to blush, “Hiya Betts, long day?”

She flashes him that brilliant smile of hers and he thinks his heart might have actually melted from his chest. “You have no idea. What can I—”

Before she can get through the inquiry, Reggis interrupts her. “So Beebee, I know you secretly want to go out with me but are just playing hard to get. And I totally dig that. I was thinking that—”

Betty grabs his arm to get him to stop talking. “Reg, go get me a grande cup?” 

“Sure thing.” He throws a wink over his shoulder on his way over to retreve what was asked of him. 

Betty clasped her hands on front of her, a blush creeping up her face. “Can I ask you for a massive favor?”

Jughead immediately shakes his head at her, “Yeah, anything.” _ Good, that didn’t sound desperate at all. Nicely done. _

Reaching over the counter and balling the front of his shirt in her fist, he brings him closer to her. Their noses are centimeters apart and her breath washes over his face. He can feel the heat in the tips of his ears and know they are flaming red, thank god for his beanie. 

“I need you to kiss me and act like we do it everyday.”

Before he has a chance to respond, her lips are on his. He’s stunned and it takes him a moment to compute what exactly is occuring. Jughead has an out of body experience before realizing that the girl of his dreams is currently kissing him. _ Kissing _ him. Jughead gets his act together really quickly and chases her lips when she begins to pull away. His hand comes up to cup her jaw, thumb caressing the soft skin found there. Her lips are incredibly soft. _ Really, who gave her the right to have such perfect lips? _ If he had any semblance of a chance before, he really has no chance of getting over her now. 

They pull away from one another and Jughead is sure he has a ridiculous look on his face. _ Would you like to do that everyday? _

Betty’s giggle reveals he in fact said that out loud, but before he can die from embarrassment their moment is interrupted.

“Woah, mini Coop! What’s going on here.” Reggie returns, without the cup he was sent to go get. 

Betty pulls back and touches her lips, facing Reggie. “Reggie, this is my boyfriend. He comes to visit me a few times a week at work, I’m sure you’ve seen him! Isn’t he just the cutest.” Betty turns towards Jughead again and sends him a subtle wink. 

Rubbing the back of his neck, Jughead gives an awkward wave. 

Reggie crosses his arms over his chest making his biceps look _ huge _. Jughead swallows thickly. 

“Why has he never kissed you before? This is literally the first time I’ve ever seen this dweeb around.”

Before Betty can respond, Jughead jumps in. “Yeah, that’s my fault. I don’t like to distract her when she’s working.”

“He’s just so darn cute today that I couldn’t help myself.” Betty scrunches her nose in his direction, making it seem as though she’s completely smitten with him. “Anyway, you were saying something before?”

Reggie just grumbles something incomprehensible before sulking off to find someone else to annoy. 

Betty beams at him and he can feel the blush rising to his cheeks yet again.

“If I wanted to watch people make out, I’d still be in school. Are you going to order a coffee or not?” The girl behind him actually starts to tap her foot in impatience.

“Right! Of course.” Betty grabs a cup next to her and begins to fill it. “I’ll make your usual?”

“Sounds great.” He walks over to the pick up counter and waits patiently. He tries to hide his disappointment when Betty isn’t the one to hand him his coffee. 

When walking out the door, he notices her bubbly writing on the side of the cup. _ I’d love to do that everyday. Thanks! _Followed by a number, which he can only guess is hers. The smile that comes to his face is unrivaled. He takes one last peak into the Starbucks and catches her eye. She waves and sends him a wink.

He doesn’t even wait until he’s back in his car to text her and he doesn’t feel the slightest bit ashamed.

  
  
  



	3. folded flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead have been together for awhile, yet they still seem to find new ways to show their love for one another.

Betty opens the last box of their belongings to reveal a load of books, both hers and his mixed together. A quiet smile comes to her lips as she brushes her fingertips along the bindings. She closes her eyes and imagines the years ahead of them, every first they’ve yet to experience, every second and third they will have. Her life hasn’t always been easy, but having him with her for eternity somehow makes it all worth the tears, heartbreak, and longing. 

One by one, Betty places the books onto their halfway filled bookshelf. Of course the classics have their own shelf, then by author and release date. 

Entering the living room, Jughead inquires, “I finished the bathroom, is there anything else you need me to unpack?” He comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and underneath her arms, resting his head onto her shoulder. The book Betty was about to shelf hovers when she allows herself to completely sink back into him. She’s surrounded by his warmth and smell of pinewood and lemon grass.

“I just unpacked our last box, it’s the rest of our books. I’m just putting them on the shelf if you want to help.” 

Jughead places a soft kiss to her jaw, squeezing her waist tighter before letting her go. “You know I’d love to help.” He leans down and grabs a few books from the box, noticing how she’s shelved the rest of them before continuing her pattern. “If you had asked me to help set up the kitchen, I definitely would have passed.” He throws her a wink which Betty received with an eye roll and cheesy smile. 

The two of them take their time to finish putting together the final piece of their home. Gentle touches pass between them; a hand on Betty’s back when he reaches for more books, hand brushes when they reach for the same spot, and stolen kisses in the middle of the organizational bliss. 

After dinner, Jughead FaceTimes Jellybean, leaving Betty to herself for a few moments. He animatedly talks with his sister, hand waving wildly, when an idea pops into her head. Smiling, she heads into the bedroom and looks for her scrapbook paper. 

… 

Jughead kisses Betty before he hops into the shower for the morning, she’ll be gone when he gets out, and there is no way he’s starting the day without a kiss from Betty.

“Tacos for dinner tonight?” Betty asks against his lips, wiggling her eyebrows at him.  
Jughead groans. “Mmmm baby, talk dirty to me.” 

Betty laughs and stamps another quick kiss to his lips before breaking away from his arms. “Go take a shower, stinky. I’ll see you later”

Jughead walks towards the bathroom but shouts over his shoulder, “And here I thought you liked my natural musk!” He winks at her when she throws the dish towel in her hand at him. 

Yeah, moving in with Betty Cooper was definitely the best decision I’ve ever made. That and climbing the ladder to kiss her. 

He goes through his shower routine, only slightly bitter Betty declined his invitation to join him. Imagine thinking work is more important than sexy shower times!

Finishing up, he shuts off the water and steps out, grabbing the towel. His eyes are drawn to the bright blue, folded flower left on the pile of his clothes. He ties the towel around his waist so that he can look at the flower more closely. The folds are meticulous and obviously done with care. A smile creeps across his face, making his eye crinkle; the smile that’s only brought on by one person. 

Jughead tugs on his clothes and leaves the bathroom, flower in hand. Betty has a deep love for decorating with mason jars, so they are scattered all around their apartment. He takes one from the cabinet that hasn’t been used yet and drops the flower inside. He places the jar onto the bedside table. He kisses two fingers and then taps the jar.

He walks out the door, heading to work with a smile on his lips, one put there by his favorite person. 

Throughout the next few weeks Jughead finds the folded flowers whenever he’s least expecting them. One in his lunchbox the day Betty had packed his sandwich, another one on his pillow when she had to stay over at Veronica’s and didn’t get to kiss him goodnight, yet another in his favorite copy of In Cold Blood. They were found scattered all around the apartment, Betty’s presence still there even after she had left.

Jughead continues to keep the flowers, jar filling up quickly with the colorful Betty trifles. 

...

Jughead comes home from work, drops his bag at the front door and slips off his shoes. He isn’t hit with the usual aroma of wonderful smells he’s used to, instead he hears snifflinf coming from down the hall. When he walks into the bedroom, Betty’s hair cascades down her face, hiding her from view. The sniffling continues and he spots the phone across from her on the bed. His shoulders slump in the realization of who had to have been on the other side of the phone before he had come home. Jughead climbs on the bed, dipping the mattress so Betty’s jostled with the movement. Her hair moves away from her face and he can see the streaks of tears running down her cheeks. He sits behind her and wraps his arms tightly around her body. Betty collapses against him, clinging to his arms. 

Jughead kisses the side of her head, “Hi baby. The dragon spit a little too much fire today?”

Betty just nods into his arms and continues to hold on tightly, her legs tucked up close to her body and Jughead’s encircling her. 

They sit like that for an unmeasured amount of time, rocking slowly together. When the sniffles stop and the tears dry, Jughead presses another kiss to the top of her head and carefully untangles his arms from hers. “I have something for you.”

He leans over to the to his bedside table, making sure to not move away from Betty too much. Jughead grabs the jar from under his night stand and resumes his position wrapped around Betty. 

“Jug?” Betty whispers and clutches his arm to her chest. 

He unscrews the cap and pours each of the colored, folded flowers out from the jar. Betty runs her hand through the dozens of flowers, each one now having a piece of paper attached to it with some string. 

Jughead’s takes a pink flower and turns it over in his hand so she can see the note attached. In his slightly scratchy scrawl it says, the dimples at the bottom of her back.

Betty lets out a little puff of air and leans her head against his arm. He reaches for a blue one, this one saying, when she sticks her tongue out when she’s concentrating really hard. 

He reads her every single flower until she’s smiling and laughing at some of the rather crude ones. 

Betty turns her body so she can look at him. “When did you do all of this?”

Jughead takes her hand and runs his thumb over her smooth skin. “Everytime I found a flower you had left me, I was hit with just how much I love you and I knew that with every fold of the paper, you were thinking of how much you loved me. Each time I found a new one, I wrote one reason why I Ioved you. I figured there would be a time when you needed to be reminded of just how much you are loved.”

Her eyes are brimmed with tears for a totally different reason now. Betty throws her arms around his neck and clings to him. “I’m so lucky to call you mine Jughead Jones.”  
He places a kiss to her shoulder, holding her just as tightly back. “And I’m lucky to call you mine Betty Cooper.”


	4. sock puppet knights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead fights off monsters under the bed with sock puppets to help his daughter fall asleep.

“Daddy!” A small squeaky voice travels down the hallway. 

Jughead looks to his side, forgetting Betty isn’t there; she’s still on her business trip until tomorrow morning. He throws his legs over the side of the bed, lumbering down the hallway, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. After three days of interrupted sleep, two messed up school lunches, and pink bath towels that used to be white, Jughead doesn’t think he’s ever missed his wife so much in all of his life. It’s not that he doesn’t do anything around the house, they just do it as a team, and, without her, he can’t seem to do anything correctly. 

Stepping into his youngest daughter’s room, he sees her left eye peeking at him from behind the blanket that’s drawn up to her shoulders. 

“What’s wrong, peanut?” He comes over to sit on the edge of her bed, placing a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. 

She immediately climbs into his lap and clings to his arm. “There're monsters under my bed. Mommy always scares them away before bedtime but they aren’t scared anymore because she’s not here.”

Jughead’s heart aches at her admission.  _ I can’t believe I forgot to check for monsters. Oh Betts, you can’t come home soon enough. _

Squeezing Adelaide to him, he scoops her up and heads across the room to turn on the lights. “Let’s talk some sense into those meanies, shall we?”

Adelaide nods into his chest, still curled up in his arms. “They’re not afraid of me. I don’t know how to get rid of them.”

Once the light is on, he goes over to her dresser and leans down so she can reach her sock drawer. “We’re going to get a few friends to help the monsters go away. Okay?” he feels another nod against his chest. “Pick out your favorite pair of socks.” Adelaide picks her head up to look at him with a questioning stare, one that reminds him so much of her mother. “Just trust me, Addy.”

Her tiny hands pick a black pair with yellow polka dots. Jughead takes them from her and takes one, putting it onto his right hand, then taking the other one, he slips it onto her hand. 

“These are our protectors! The monsters under the bed? They’re only afraid of sock puppets and Mommies.”

Adelaide looks up at him with worry in her eyes. “Not Daddies?”

Bopping her nose with his socked hand, he says, “Nope, we smell too much like the monsters and they think we’re on their side. Boys are too stinky.”

This gets her to giggle, some of the anxiety visibly leaving her body. 

Jughead brings them back to her bed, setting her down beside him and getting onto his stomach to lean over the side. Adelaide scrambles to mirror his actions. 

Lifting up his hand, Jughead moves his fingers while he speaks in a cartoonish voice. “Excuse me, monsters. I hear you’ve been scaring my friend.” He pauses, both he and his daughter straining their ears to listen for the offending fiends.

Adelaide grabs his shoulder and bounces on the bed excitedly, whispering to him, “Daddy! The monsters don't like them; I think it’s working.”

Nodding, he rubs a hand down her back. “Why don’t you try with your puppet.”

She gets a serious look on her face and shoves her hand over the side of the bed. Moving the puppet in time with her "prince charming voice". “This is my friend’s room, but if you stop scaring her, I’ll give you somewhere else to live.” Adelaide looks to Jughead and he smiles at her in encouragement. “There’s a closet downstairs that no one uses at night. You can go there.”

She sits back with a triumphant look and holds out her socked hand for a high five, which Jughead grants her immediately. “Do you feel a little less scared now?”

Nodding her head, she continues to play with the sock on her hand. “Do you think you could stay with me until they’re all moved in downstairs?” She looks up at him with large green eyes, reminding him so much of Betty.

Jughead moves so his back rests against the headboard and he cradles her against him. “Of course I can, peanut. I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

Letting out a big yawn, she rests her head against his stomach. Her eyes are closed but Jughead can’t help but ask her one more thing before she falls completely asleep. “Why’d you let the monster stay in the house if they were scaring you?”

She lets out another big yawn and shoves her face further into his shirt. Her words are muffled but he can still make them out. “Mommy always says that people are mean for a reason and it’s usually because they're upset about something else. I think the monsters were sad about not having their own place to live.”

Running his hand through her soft blonde curls, a smile comes to his face. “I’m so proud of you, Addy.” He can see so much of Betty in her and nothing makes him happier. 

“Na-night, Daddy. Thank you for helping me.” After a few moments, her breaths even out and he can tell she’s finally asleep.

“Goodnight, peanut,” he whispers, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

The next morning, he’s woken up by a kiss on his forehead. Groggily opening his eyes, he realizes he’s still in Adelaide’s bed, the sleeping girl now sprawled across him and a puddle of her drool collecting on his arm.

“Tough night?” Betty’s running a hand through their daughter’s curls and giving him a sweet smile. 

“Nothing we couldn’t handle with a little sock puppet acting.” Using his unpinned arm, he pulls her onto the bed with them. “But boy am I glad you’re home. I couldn’t handle messing up another peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” 

Betty chuckles and snuggles up with the both of them. Jughead feels the most at ease he has in the past three days.


End file.
